Dating from a movement of the sixth century B.C.E., about 3
million Jains now live in their original homeland of northern India. Salvation or
liberation can be attained only by monks living an ascetic style of life similar to
Brahmanic ascetics and Buddhist monks. A central doctrine is ahimsa , nonviolence
to living things; this doctrine was crucial to Mohandas Gandhi, who was not a Jain but who
grew up among Jains.